So, got back from New Wine North and East late last night. Still got lots to process (which I will eventually get around to blogging about) but we had a great week, so here are my top (mostly humorous) reasons why Newark is better than Shepton Mallett (and maybe a couple why it isn't)
1: Its SO much easier to get to from virtually anywhere east of Reading. 1 hour 50 mins beats the 9 hours it took one of my friends to get to Shepton Mallett from Essex a few years back. No more M25 or A303 for me on the last day in July ...
2: The campsite is flat with short grass; no more marital disharmony levelling the van or putting up the awning!
3: It is smaller, only 6 and a half thousand people, so more personal and a lot less queueing.
4: Let's face it, there was less Boden and Joules and more scousers and tattoos and therefore it was more like real life (sorry LSE folk).
5: [Getting theological now, steady on] There was more overt affirmation of women in ordained ministry from the stage. This week for me there was another watershed moment when the evening introductions in the Meeting Place (that's venue 1 in old money)were done by a clergy spouse, who was a man!!
6: There was a concerted effort to explain what was going on for the uninitiated; lots of "you may not have done this before..." This is in the spirit of 1Corinthians 14 for me.
7: AWACS and Red Arrows flypasts!
and 2 why not ...
1: It's just one week, so no cashpoint, no recycling, and a minimal shop. Takeaway food quite limited too. If we had another week, or a Soul Survivor, I appreciate these things would be easier to arrange.
2: Currys .... [you had to be there]
Who's this then?
- Tim Goodbody
- Chelmsford, Essex, United Kingdom
- The occasional blog of an Anglican priest in rural Essex
Showing posts with label new wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new wine. Show all posts
Saturday, 7 August 2010
Thursday, 20 August 2009
Vicar's letter to the readers of the village magazines, September 09
Dear Friends,
Did you know that Christian discipleship is like Horse Whispering?
If you are now thinking about Robert Redford and Kristin Scott Thomas, whoa there! I’m talking about the real horse whisperer, Monty Roberts, who is world famous and even trains the horses of Her Majesty, the Queen. To get to the point of this illustration I need to give you a bit of background.
Monty Roberts grew up as the son of a horse-breaker in the desert of the Southern USA. His father’s method of training wild horses was to tie them to a post and scare them until they submitted to his control. Monty watched his father, and the wild horses, and he noticed two things; firstly, that his father was using essentially the same method to bring him up, and secondly that there was a better way of communicating with horses.
He observed that a horse wishing to join a herd went through a long process with the dominant mare of the herd, which amounted to a series of invitations and challenges, communicated with movements of the head and body. These invitations and challenges, Monty realised, could equally well be given to a horse by a human. He imitated the gesture and posture of the horses and found he could very quickly get them to trust him and relate closely to him. Apparently the longest it has ever taken him to get a saddle and rider on to a wild horse is 16 minutes.
So what’s that got to do with Christian discipleship? Well, firstly we need to acknowledge that in the past the worldwide church has behaved like Monty Roberts’ father in scaring people into submission and obedience. I want to assure you, if you still had any lingering doubts, that we don’t do it like that any more! God is not a horse breaker; he is a horse whisperer, giving us loving invitations and gentle challenges through life, to draw us into close relationship with him. Just as Monty Roberts effectively became a horse to communicate with horses, God became a human in Christ so that he could show us how much he loves us.
And secondly, the church now functions as a whisperer, not a breaker. I hope you know you are invited – to come and be heard, to come and be part of something. Yet, if all we ever did were invite people, we would just be a cosy huddle, instead of a vibrant community of faith. Invitation then goes hand in hand, in church life as in horse whispering, with challenge. What do I mean by that? Well, people who’ve been church members all their lives are still on a journey of discovery, learning more from day to day, week to week, about God and what it means to be a Christian. That challenge is open for everyone, no mater whether they’ve never been to church or have been going for 90 years!
Invitation and challenge; we are aiming for a careful balance between the two, because if all you ever got at church was challenge, you’d soon be discouraged, but if all you get is invitation, you’d soon be bored. But with the right amount of both, the result is an empowered Christian community, on a journey of discovery together.
I look forward to journeying with you this autumn
Tim
Did you know that Christian discipleship is like Horse Whispering?
If you are now thinking about Robert Redford and Kristin Scott Thomas, whoa there! I’m talking about the real horse whisperer, Monty Roberts, who is world famous and even trains the horses of Her Majesty, the Queen. To get to the point of this illustration I need to give you a bit of background.
Monty Roberts grew up as the son of a horse-breaker in the desert of the Southern USA. His father’s method of training wild horses was to tie them to a post and scare them until they submitted to his control. Monty watched his father, and the wild horses, and he noticed two things; firstly, that his father was using essentially the same method to bring him up, and secondly that there was a better way of communicating with horses.
He observed that a horse wishing to join a herd went through a long process with the dominant mare of the herd, which amounted to a series of invitations and challenges, communicated with movements of the head and body. These invitations and challenges, Monty realised, could equally well be given to a horse by a human. He imitated the gesture and posture of the horses and found he could very quickly get them to trust him and relate closely to him. Apparently the longest it has ever taken him to get a saddle and rider on to a wild horse is 16 minutes.
So what’s that got to do with Christian discipleship? Well, firstly we need to acknowledge that in the past the worldwide church has behaved like Monty Roberts’ father in scaring people into submission and obedience. I want to assure you, if you still had any lingering doubts, that we don’t do it like that any more! God is not a horse breaker; he is a horse whisperer, giving us loving invitations and gentle challenges through life, to draw us into close relationship with him. Just as Monty Roberts effectively became a horse to communicate with horses, God became a human in Christ so that he could show us how much he loves us.
And secondly, the church now functions as a whisperer, not a breaker. I hope you know you are invited – to come and be heard, to come and be part of something. Yet, if all we ever did were invite people, we would just be a cosy huddle, instead of a vibrant community of faith. Invitation then goes hand in hand, in church life as in horse whispering, with challenge. What do I mean by that? Well, people who’ve been church members all their lives are still on a journey of discovery, learning more from day to day, week to week, about God and what it means to be a Christian. That challenge is open for everyone, no mater whether they’ve never been to church or have been going for 90 years!
Invitation and challenge; we are aiming for a careful balance between the two, because if all you ever got at church was challenge, you’d soon be discouraged, but if all you get is invitation, you’d soon be bored. But with the right amount of both, the result is an empowered Christian community, on a journey of discovery together.
I look forward to journeying with you this autumn
Tim
Concerto for a rainy day
Finally getting round to reflecting on the teaching and worship at New Wine LSE. I've been whining about the weather for long enough and something has got to distract me from keeping looking at the cricket score today!
I spent the mornings in Venue 2 which is smaller and louder but more relaxed and informal than Venue 1. I liked the fact that normal people, not just New Wine leadership team members, are deemed suitable to pray at the beginning of each session. Mike Breen was the speaker all week. He was reflecting a lot on discipleship, comparing it usefully to Horse whispering (you'll have to download the talks, or read my steal) and giving some really good insights into the significance and typology of the Abrahamic covenant, relating the story of Isaac's "sacrifice" to the sacrifice of Christ and saying some helpful things about the whole PSA debate.
Mike speaks with humour and with speed, but is entertaining enough that when you disagree with him (as I did about bishops) you don't get too cross and keep listening.
In the evenings I joined the herd at Venue 1, which had a variety of speakers. Amy Orr-Ewing was very good, though not exclusively because she was a woman under 50 on the stage at Venue 1 in New Wine (next step an ordained woman - come on you people!)
Michael Duncan blew me away with his testimony and his challenge to men to "step out". I haven't gone forward for prayer at New Wine for about 5 years - that day it was twice - once in the morning at venue 2 for over-burdened ministers , once in the evening at venue 1 for men. Mark Melluish said something very significance during the build up to the prayer ministry following Michael Duncan's talk.
He said (quoting as I remember it) "It's not very politically correct, but I think a lot of women have been waiting for this for a long time, I'd like only women to pray for these men as they come forward". The significance of this, in the light of various debates about New Wine's attitude to gender roles and ministry, is that women were freed to pray over, prophesy over, and speak with authority into the lives of men. OK its not quite the same as the ordination thing but for me it was a significant shift, and it was liberating.
Mark Melluish also spoke very movingly on the last night about the events in his family following his son's serious head injury earlier in the year. This was also a significant evening, touching as it did on issue such as the tension between what happens when God heals and when he doesn't, as well as giving a challenge to our middle class comfort zone when it comes to sharing faith in multicultural environments like ITU family rooms.
The worship this year was also good I enjoy Eoghan Heaslip (aka Shaka Hislop because I can never say his name right) and Kathryn Scott made a nice change. Matt Redman's looking a bit chubby these days but can still cut it, and also in venue 2, Bill Donoghue and Nick Herbert woke me up well in the mornings.
I didn't go to many seminars this year as I spent more time networking and drinking free coffee in the Leaders' Lounge, but I wasn't going to miss "Building an Outward focused church" led by Alan Scott from Causeway coast vineyard. It was ace, and once you've translated "vineyard" to "Anglican" in the cultural references, it was most useful. The most challenging thing he said in the light of the fact that we've just put together our vision statement, was that "If no one is leaving your church, your vision statement is too broad". I guess I'm ambivalent about the Vineyard tendency to say "if you don't like it you know where the door is", but sometimes I wish I could say it!
Other highlights included the good old Groundbreakers family celebrations, and my daughter on stage with the New Wine kids choir. And of course staying up late in the gazebo talking with the gang.
Next year we might try Newark, to see if we can tempt a few more of this lot to come.
Sunday, 2 August 2009
O Lord, the clouds are gathering
This shot was taken the night before we arrived at Shepton Mallet for New Wine 09. We always camp at Wincanton Racecourse, in order to make an earlier start on the Saturday, without havign to get up too early.
New Wine was great in terms of content, but muddy and wet in terms of weather. I will post on the things that impacted me most when I return from France in a few days, but for now just let me say it was good to connect with a few bloggers, including Jody and (briefly) Fibrefairy.
Monday, 20 July 2009
Come on in ...
We're off to New Wine this week, with a small party from church ( I have to say that as the first thing vicars say to each other when they meet on the showground is "How many have you brought?")
Anyone else going to LSE who wants to get together can come and find this van on White 6
see you there
Saturday, 4 April 2009
O Comforter draw near ...
I'm just back from the ECHT day at Chelmsford Cathedral. It was great to meet Sam there, and share a bit of real time face to face, among the 200 odd people who poured into the Cathedral.
But the day was more than networking - there was an excellent address from Gareth Tuckwell, the Chief Executive of Burrswood, which (in embryonic form) I copy below with his permission. He did ad lib a bit with illustrations. Gareth also led a themed group.
There were four other themed groups run by Anthony Rose, Hugh Balfour & Team, Roger Matthews and Paul Harcourt & Team. Some of these were recorded but I as yet don't know where they'll end up.
It was one of those days when, because I'm organising stuff, and taking part in the worship, I couldn't really engage until it was well underway, but the fact that the worship was led partly by people from our church here in Stebbing gave me a real lift. I really rather like the fact that ECHT is the German word for Genuine!
Anyway, here's Gareth's address ...
PS Sam I hope that looks better
READING : Acts Ch 3 vv1-10 Ch 4 vv 5-14
This morning we come together:
To celebrate, to give thanks, to experience a fresh encounter with Jesus as He reaches out to meet us at the point of our need. We look to His healing touch on our lives.
We come to share and learn together and maybe to reflect at this important landmark in time as we seek to live out God’s call to heal, at such a time as this.
I sense we are here too, to rededicate ourselves to a sense of mission and to a vision of the local church as a healing community that is so relevant as we approach the second decade of the 21st century.
We live in times of emptiness, dislocation, fragmentation and inner pain when communities are crying out for healing and restoration, both to our individual personhood, to humanity, and to society as a whole. If we can grasp that vision for our local communities then new doors of ministry will open up for each one of us as we go about our daily lives.
Thanks to the passion, commitment, vision and dedication of certain people here today, the Essex Christian Healing Trust has become a focus for teaching and Christian ministry that is trusted, sort after and centred on the Gospel truths that we hold to.
We are, I think, at an important point in the history of the Trust and the development of ministry. We look back to the many amazing initiatives and people used of God as the twentieth Century unfolded. From the Guild of St Raphael, the Guild of Health, the Divine Healing Mission, the Order of St Luke and the founding of Crowhurst and Burrswood, to the ministry of people such as James Moore Hickson, Dorothy Kerin, Brother Bill and George Bennett. Then came the remarkable report of the Archbishop’s Commission just over 50 years ago that focused on the roles of the Church and of the medical profession in healing sick people. We then move on to the exciting days of the 1970’s, the Fountain Trust and the fresh move of the Holy Spirit amongst us, to the founding of the Acorn Christian Healing Foundation and latterly, to the birth of the New Wine Ministries across the country. The ministry of Bishop Morris and Anne Maddocks inspired us all and their translation to Heaven has left us bereft, yes, but also the more determined to build on their example and teaching. As we move forward we give thanks for all we can draw on and all that has gone before. To be radical means to draw from our roots, so radical we will surely be.
You have doubtless come with expectation and a belief that Jesus heals today. You are the ones who can take this belief out into your churches, into your communities. You are the ones who are called to be radical and to reach out in new ways. As we reach out in ministry to one another, to those around us, so we will receive healing and transformation in our own lives.
Let’s look at a vision of the local church as a healing community.
The task of earthing this vision in the reality of our local congregations is not an easy one. There will be problems, disappointments and frustrations. Slowly, we come to appreciate that all of us are wounded; we are all in need of healing and forgiveness.
Individually and corporately we will continue with the reality of brokenness and healing, and the discipline and love required to sustain us on our healing journey. This journey is both an inward one, into our own life with God and others, and an outward one that draws us into mission in response to human pain.
Let’s look at the New Testament reading from Acts Chapter 3 and 4 and follow Peter and John on their busy afternoon.
They gave time in the rush of the day
They are obedient to The Holy Spirit, expectant that The Kingdom of God will break through
They brought the presence of Jesus
Time, Obedience, Presence…. A T O P list for ministry!
Let’s look first at giving time:
Peter and John were hurrying to afternoon prayers – it was almost 3pm and they were probably running late as many of us do. They were just about to enter the temple courts when they were stopped and asked for money. I think I might easily have walked on, thinking to myself that I don’t give money to beggars. I would probably have avoided looking the man in the eye so as not to engage him when I was running late. Surely it is more important for me to be seen to be at prayers on time! Giving money is sometimes the quickest, easiest and perhaps least costly thing to do. I would be telling myself that he would be there tomorrow.
We hurry along in our instant, emailed, fast fixed, electronic age, setting our own priorities as we go. We are too busy to think about finding stillness at the centre of our being and pausing to listen to our Heavenly Father. How had Peter and John learnt about the ministry of interruptions? I guess they watched Jesus day by day and saw how He set His heavenly Father’s priorities by the moment.
Just think back to Luke 8 and how Jesus had that little matter with the pigs and then when he returned he found a crowd around him. Then Jairus came and fell at his feet pleading saying, “My only daughter of 12 is dying, please come and heal her”. Being a doctor I would probably have thought I could sort this one in my own strength and I would have hurried over to Jairus’ daughter pushing my way through the crowds, paying no attention to those who might wish to interrupt my mission. Yet you read that right then Jesus was touched by a woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. Jesus listened to her. He gave her time. He healed her. It’s so easy to miss out on the opportunity our Heavenly Father has prepared for us.
So first they gave time. Secondly, they are obedient.
We read that they are ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ and clearly stepping out in faith. They obeyed the nudge of the Spirit in stopping and engaging the crippled man. How often do we miss opportunities because we don’t recognise our Father’s voice? We fail to obey the voice of the one who loves us most. We put our own priorities first.
One time I allowed myself to be obedient to the nudging of the Spirit, that inner voice, was when I was sitting with Dorothy. She had prayed and prayed in her weakness and distress as her cancer advanced. She felt that God had not listened. She had watched her husband die before her of cancer. Her son was having business difficulties and was keeping at a distance only because he loved her. As I sat beside her she was lying in bed with her hand on an enlarging liver. “Tell God how you feel”, I said. She cried, “Why have you abandoned me?” I replied, “Now you are with Jesus on the cross.” “Thank you,” she said, “I’ll stay with Him – that helps so much.”
We go forward in obedience; we live out the gospel alongside the one who is sick and wounded. We aim to dwell in God’s house and yet to be at home in the houses of those we visit.
Lastly, they brought the presence of Jesus. Time, obedience and the presence of Jesus…a TOP prescription for our ministry!
We read that when the Sanhedrin ‘saw the courage of Peter and John and they realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.’
Remember Moses carrying the tablets down Mount Sinai. We read that “His face shone for he had been with the Lord”. We truly want to enter into God’s presence for the one we love. In the Old Testament, remember, the priest could not enter into God’s presence for the people without sacrifice. There is no separation between sacrifice and worship. Offering sacrifice was their worship. The first time the word ‘worship’ is mentioned is in Genesis 22. God said to Abraham, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac whom you love, and offer him as a sacrifice for me”. Abraham turned to his servant saying, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship”. Worship is what we do with our lives as well as what we do with our lips. The route to worship is in sacrifice, offering our lives again to God. “I am available Lord”. Worship sensitises us to the word of God and tunes us into the Holy Spirit’s wave length. It increases our love for Jesus and we become more sensitive to the one we love. (illustration)
What we need is not a new form of ministry but an ever more intimate relationship with Jesus himself. In many ways, health, which in the Greek, shares the same word as salvation, is a spiritual issue. Those in loving harmony with God and neighbour not only survive tragedy best, whatever their economic situation, but grow stronger in the process.
When the late Henri Nouwen awoke from an operation following an accident he had sustained, and realised that he was not yet in heaven but still alive in the world, he had an immediate awareness of being sent: sent to make the all-embracing love of the Father known to people who hunger and thirst for love, but often look for it in wrong relationships and places where it cannot be found.
He then understood how ‘making known’ is not primarily a question of words, arguments, language and methods.
What is at stake is a way of being in the truth that tries less to persuade than to demonstrate. It is a way of witness, of bringing the presence of Jesus. We belong to God but give ourselves to people.
In our communities we will encounter those whose body, mind or spirit are broken by social injustice, the misuse of power, unhealthy relationship and lifestyle, individualism, materialism and false spirituality. Many people needlessly suffer. Yet at times it seems that some people are born without any choice but to suffer; remember the man ‘crippled from birth’. But an encounter with Jesus Christ, our healer, reminds us and them that the meaning and purpose of life are found in Him alone–he brings the gift of life to all who choose to receive it.
As we accept that healing comes through seeing The Kingdom of God breaking through into our world, we are faced with a challenge in our congregations. We have to ask:
1. Do we give time and rejoice in a ministry of interruptions? Is my congregation a fellowship of love, learning obedience to God in their every day walk with him? Is it one where people have time to bring the presence and love of Jesus that opens the door to healing? Have I a role in ministering that love?
2. Is it a fellowship of worship, emphasising the reality of God as revealed in Jesus Christ, which through the ministry of word and sacrament will bring people into a healing and living encounter with Jesus? Am I able to help support the worship in a deeper way?
3. Is my congregation a fellowship of reconciliation, eliminating needless social and psychological tensions that so often harm relationships and prevent healing? Are there relationships I need to put right?
4. Is it a fellowship of prayer that enables the Holy Spirit to move in power? Is my prayer life a priority?
5. Is the healing ministry seen as part of the normal life of the Church, proclaiming the truth that Jesus heals today? If not, am I ready for when I am asked to help take it forward?
Now perhaps, we see the areas of local involvement that we are called to.
Health is not an individual achievement but a Community responsibility. Maybe only those who share in the brokenness of others can really discover the meaning behind being whole. We discover that healing is a responsibility of the whole congregation. Healing is about being restored in body, mind, spirit, emotions and relationships, to live as God intends for us. Healing will happen amidst suffering, amidst death and dying, for they are but part of the journey of life.
Each member of our congregation is vital to the healing mission of the church as we learn to give time, to be obedient and to be in touch with the presence of Jesus within each one of us.
One man with AIDS wrote, “I regard myself as on a journey with trials and tribulations, with darkest despair and also with hope, with laughter and happiness. My hope is that those around me can sit with me, be alongside me as I struggle and grow”.
The challenge of the healing community is to stay alongside and enable growth even
if death approaches, whilst continuing to offer praise and thanksgiving for those who receive, perhaps a more visible but no more important healing touch from Jesus who meets us at the point of our need.
Scripture says that faith is the presence of things hoped for but not always seen. Building healing communities is an act of faith. We cannot always see where our efforts will lead us. It is costly to give ourselves without reservation but that is what is required to transform the life of ordinary church congregations into healing communities. Human effort is not enough. We need God’s Spirit blowing His breath of life into our midst.
Maybe that is what we ask of God as we are sent out to find our place in the making-whole movement of God. As he shows each one of us how to participate in creating a healing community within our own churches, so we will discover along the way that Jesus is there alongside, as we make time for him.
Jesus enters into the pain of those we are alongside; He enables us to stay with the suffering and yet to be expectant of healing as we see the power of the Holy Spirit at work.
It is right, I believe, to be challenged by the words spoken by Jesus in the synagogue, after he was baptised by John and had emerged from his time of temptation in the desert. He quoted from the prophet Isaiah. Let me personalise this passage as we seek to know our mission under God.
“God has chosen me and sent me to bring good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to announce release to captives and freedom to those in prison. God has sent me to proclaim that the time has come when He will save his people”.
Jesus read those words, not only to outline his mission and ministry on earth, but also to give direction to the outworking of the Christian gospel down the centuries. God would use each one of us, in our humanity, in our vulnerability, in our inadequacies, to be part of enabling healing communities to be born. Healing communities point to the coming of his Kingdom. They are what we go out from here to work towards.
Let us hold before us a vision for this Diocese in which healing communities are the way of life for the Christian church, as we practice the ministry of interruptions, give time to those God sends across our path, are obedient to those nudges of The Holy Spirit that we pretend not to recognise, and grow in our love relationship with Jesus as others see that we are in tune with His heart beat, walking closely with Him. Let us look to the Living Lord Jesus and know that His heart is to bring healing as we minister in His Name.
Let us pray:
Father God, as each one of us receives from you today; we ask that you would do with us as you wish. Work with us, in us and through us to bring glory to your name and healing across this land. In His name we pray. Amen
But the day was more than networking - there was an excellent address from Gareth Tuckwell, the Chief Executive of Burrswood, which (in embryonic form) I copy below with his permission. He did ad lib a bit with illustrations. Gareth also led a themed group.
There were four other themed groups run by Anthony Rose, Hugh Balfour & Team, Roger Matthews and Paul Harcourt & Team. Some of these were recorded but I as yet don't know where they'll end up.
It was one of those days when, because I'm organising stuff, and taking part in the worship, I couldn't really engage until it was well underway, but the fact that the worship was led partly by people from our church here in Stebbing gave me a real lift. I really rather like the fact that ECHT is the German word for Genuine!
Anyway, here's Gareth's address ...
PS Sam I hope that looks better
READING : Acts Ch 3 vv1-10 Ch 4 vv 5-14
This morning we come together:
To celebrate, to give thanks, to experience a fresh encounter with Jesus as He reaches out to meet us at the point of our need. We look to His healing touch on our lives.
We come to share and learn together and maybe to reflect at this important landmark in time as we seek to live out God’s call to heal, at such a time as this.
I sense we are here too, to rededicate ourselves to a sense of mission and to a vision of the local church as a healing community that is so relevant as we approach the second decade of the 21st century.
We live in times of emptiness, dislocation, fragmentation and inner pain when communities are crying out for healing and restoration, both to our individual personhood, to humanity, and to society as a whole. If we can grasp that vision for our local communities then new doors of ministry will open up for each one of us as we go about our daily lives.
Thanks to the passion, commitment, vision and dedication of certain people here today, the Essex Christian Healing Trust has become a focus for teaching and Christian ministry that is trusted, sort after and centred on the Gospel truths that we hold to.
We are, I think, at an important point in the history of the Trust and the development of ministry. We look back to the many amazing initiatives and people used of God as the twentieth Century unfolded. From the Guild of St Raphael, the Guild of Health, the Divine Healing Mission, the Order of St Luke and the founding of Crowhurst and Burrswood, to the ministry of people such as James Moore Hickson, Dorothy Kerin, Brother Bill and George Bennett. Then came the remarkable report of the Archbishop’s Commission just over 50 years ago that focused on the roles of the Church and of the medical profession in healing sick people. We then move on to the exciting days of the 1970’s, the Fountain Trust and the fresh move of the Holy Spirit amongst us, to the founding of the Acorn Christian Healing Foundation and latterly, to the birth of the New Wine Ministries across the country. The ministry of Bishop Morris and Anne Maddocks inspired us all and their translation to Heaven has left us bereft, yes, but also the more determined to build on their example and teaching. As we move forward we give thanks for all we can draw on and all that has gone before. To be radical means to draw from our roots, so radical we will surely be.
You have doubtless come with expectation and a belief that Jesus heals today. You are the ones who can take this belief out into your churches, into your communities. You are the ones who are called to be radical and to reach out in new ways. As we reach out in ministry to one another, to those around us, so we will receive healing and transformation in our own lives.
Let’s look at a vision of the local church as a healing community.
The task of earthing this vision in the reality of our local congregations is not an easy one. There will be problems, disappointments and frustrations. Slowly, we come to appreciate that all of us are wounded; we are all in need of healing and forgiveness.
Individually and corporately we will continue with the reality of brokenness and healing, and the discipline and love required to sustain us on our healing journey. This journey is both an inward one, into our own life with God and others, and an outward one that draws us into mission in response to human pain.
Let’s look at the New Testament reading from Acts Chapter 3 and 4 and follow Peter and John on their busy afternoon.
They gave time in the rush of the day
They are obedient to The Holy Spirit, expectant that The Kingdom of God will break through
They brought the presence of Jesus
Time, Obedience, Presence…. A T O P list for ministry!
Let’s look first at giving time:
Peter and John were hurrying to afternoon prayers – it was almost 3pm and they were probably running late as many of us do. They were just about to enter the temple courts when they were stopped and asked for money. I think I might easily have walked on, thinking to myself that I don’t give money to beggars. I would probably have avoided looking the man in the eye so as not to engage him when I was running late. Surely it is more important for me to be seen to be at prayers on time! Giving money is sometimes the quickest, easiest and perhaps least costly thing to do. I would be telling myself that he would be there tomorrow.
We hurry along in our instant, emailed, fast fixed, electronic age, setting our own priorities as we go. We are too busy to think about finding stillness at the centre of our being and pausing to listen to our Heavenly Father. How had Peter and John learnt about the ministry of interruptions? I guess they watched Jesus day by day and saw how He set His heavenly Father’s priorities by the moment.
Just think back to Luke 8 and how Jesus had that little matter with the pigs and then when he returned he found a crowd around him. Then Jairus came and fell at his feet pleading saying, “My only daughter of 12 is dying, please come and heal her”. Being a doctor I would probably have thought I could sort this one in my own strength and I would have hurried over to Jairus’ daughter pushing my way through the crowds, paying no attention to those who might wish to interrupt my mission. Yet you read that right then Jesus was touched by a woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. Jesus listened to her. He gave her time. He healed her. It’s so easy to miss out on the opportunity our Heavenly Father has prepared for us.
So first they gave time. Secondly, they are obedient.
We read that they are ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ and clearly stepping out in faith. They obeyed the nudge of the Spirit in stopping and engaging the crippled man. How often do we miss opportunities because we don’t recognise our Father’s voice? We fail to obey the voice of the one who loves us most. We put our own priorities first.
One time I allowed myself to be obedient to the nudging of the Spirit, that inner voice, was when I was sitting with Dorothy. She had prayed and prayed in her weakness and distress as her cancer advanced. She felt that God had not listened. She had watched her husband die before her of cancer. Her son was having business difficulties and was keeping at a distance only because he loved her. As I sat beside her she was lying in bed with her hand on an enlarging liver. “Tell God how you feel”, I said. She cried, “Why have you abandoned me?” I replied, “Now you are with Jesus on the cross.” “Thank you,” she said, “I’ll stay with Him – that helps so much.”
We go forward in obedience; we live out the gospel alongside the one who is sick and wounded. We aim to dwell in God’s house and yet to be at home in the houses of those we visit.
Lastly, they brought the presence of Jesus. Time, obedience and the presence of Jesus…a TOP prescription for our ministry!
We read that when the Sanhedrin ‘saw the courage of Peter and John and they realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.’
Remember Moses carrying the tablets down Mount Sinai. We read that “His face shone for he had been with the Lord”. We truly want to enter into God’s presence for the one we love. In the Old Testament, remember, the priest could not enter into God’s presence for the people without sacrifice. There is no separation between sacrifice and worship. Offering sacrifice was their worship. The first time the word ‘worship’ is mentioned is in Genesis 22. God said to Abraham, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac whom you love, and offer him as a sacrifice for me”. Abraham turned to his servant saying, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship”. Worship is what we do with our lives as well as what we do with our lips. The route to worship is in sacrifice, offering our lives again to God. “I am available Lord”. Worship sensitises us to the word of God and tunes us into the Holy Spirit’s wave length. It increases our love for Jesus and we become more sensitive to the one we love. (illustration)
What we need is not a new form of ministry but an ever more intimate relationship with Jesus himself. In many ways, health, which in the Greek, shares the same word as salvation, is a spiritual issue. Those in loving harmony with God and neighbour not only survive tragedy best, whatever their economic situation, but grow stronger in the process.
When the late Henri Nouwen awoke from an operation following an accident he had sustained, and realised that he was not yet in heaven but still alive in the world, he had an immediate awareness of being sent: sent to make the all-embracing love of the Father known to people who hunger and thirst for love, but often look for it in wrong relationships and places where it cannot be found.
He then understood how ‘making known’ is not primarily a question of words, arguments, language and methods.
What is at stake is a way of being in the truth that tries less to persuade than to demonstrate. It is a way of witness, of bringing the presence of Jesus. We belong to God but give ourselves to people.
In our communities we will encounter those whose body, mind or spirit are broken by social injustice, the misuse of power, unhealthy relationship and lifestyle, individualism, materialism and false spirituality. Many people needlessly suffer. Yet at times it seems that some people are born without any choice but to suffer; remember the man ‘crippled from birth’. But an encounter with Jesus Christ, our healer, reminds us and them that the meaning and purpose of life are found in Him alone–he brings the gift of life to all who choose to receive it.
As we accept that healing comes through seeing The Kingdom of God breaking through into our world, we are faced with a challenge in our congregations. We have to ask:
1. Do we give time and rejoice in a ministry of interruptions? Is my congregation a fellowship of love, learning obedience to God in their every day walk with him? Is it one where people have time to bring the presence and love of Jesus that opens the door to healing? Have I a role in ministering that love?
2. Is it a fellowship of worship, emphasising the reality of God as revealed in Jesus Christ, which through the ministry of word and sacrament will bring people into a healing and living encounter with Jesus? Am I able to help support the worship in a deeper way?
3. Is my congregation a fellowship of reconciliation, eliminating needless social and psychological tensions that so often harm relationships and prevent healing? Are there relationships I need to put right?
4. Is it a fellowship of prayer that enables the Holy Spirit to move in power? Is my prayer life a priority?
5. Is the healing ministry seen as part of the normal life of the Church, proclaiming the truth that Jesus heals today? If not, am I ready for when I am asked to help take it forward?
Now perhaps, we see the areas of local involvement that we are called to.
Health is not an individual achievement but a Community responsibility. Maybe only those who share in the brokenness of others can really discover the meaning behind being whole. We discover that healing is a responsibility of the whole congregation. Healing is about being restored in body, mind, spirit, emotions and relationships, to live as God intends for us. Healing will happen amidst suffering, amidst death and dying, for they are but part of the journey of life.
Each member of our congregation is vital to the healing mission of the church as we learn to give time, to be obedient and to be in touch with the presence of Jesus within each one of us.
One man with AIDS wrote, “I regard myself as on a journey with trials and tribulations, with darkest despair and also with hope, with laughter and happiness. My hope is that those around me can sit with me, be alongside me as I struggle and grow”.
The challenge of the healing community is to stay alongside and enable growth even
if death approaches, whilst continuing to offer praise and thanksgiving for those who receive, perhaps a more visible but no more important healing touch from Jesus who meets us at the point of our need.
Scripture says that faith is the presence of things hoped for but not always seen. Building healing communities is an act of faith. We cannot always see where our efforts will lead us. It is costly to give ourselves without reservation but that is what is required to transform the life of ordinary church congregations into healing communities. Human effort is not enough. We need God’s Spirit blowing His breath of life into our midst.
Maybe that is what we ask of God as we are sent out to find our place in the making-whole movement of God. As he shows each one of us how to participate in creating a healing community within our own churches, so we will discover along the way that Jesus is there alongside, as we make time for him.
Jesus enters into the pain of those we are alongside; He enables us to stay with the suffering and yet to be expectant of healing as we see the power of the Holy Spirit at work.
It is right, I believe, to be challenged by the words spoken by Jesus in the synagogue, after he was baptised by John and had emerged from his time of temptation in the desert. He quoted from the prophet Isaiah. Let me personalise this passage as we seek to know our mission under God.
“God has chosen me and sent me to bring good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to announce release to captives and freedom to those in prison. God has sent me to proclaim that the time has come when He will save his people”.
Jesus read those words, not only to outline his mission and ministry on earth, but also to give direction to the outworking of the Christian gospel down the centuries. God would use each one of us, in our humanity, in our vulnerability, in our inadequacies, to be part of enabling healing communities to be born. Healing communities point to the coming of his Kingdom. They are what we go out from here to work towards.
Let us hold before us a vision for this Diocese in which healing communities are the way of life for the Christian church, as we practice the ministry of interruptions, give time to those God sends across our path, are obedient to those nudges of The Holy Spirit that we pretend not to recognise, and grow in our love relationship with Jesus as others see that we are in tune with His heart beat, walking closely with Him. Let us look to the Living Lord Jesus and know that His heart is to bring healing as we minister in His Name.
Let us pray:
Father God, as each one of us receives from you today; we ask that you would do with us as you wish. Work with us, in us and through us to bring glory to your name and healing across this land. In His name we pray. Amen
Sunday, 29 March 2009
... 'til all the world adore his sacred name
Well, that was quite a weekend. Yesterday the PCC and the Ministry Leadership team went away for the day to Shalford Chapel to consolidate our thinking and reflection about Our Vision. The day was facilitated by Revd Dr Tim Bull, who had been sent reams of stuff from our homegroups and prayer night, with which to shape our studies and discussions. We made some good progress and I will let you know.
Then today (passion Sunday)I unusually had 3 services to do. There was a time in my younger years that I could laugh at taking 4 or 5 services on one Sunday. Now three is a challege. I need to get fit! Anyway, I preached about the cross and atonement theories, a sermon that arose from several events this week;
1) re-reading the Shack
2) A 6 year old boy asking me "what is Salvation?"
3) Internet blackout for 2 days for the whole village (stolen cables apparently)
At Stebbing, in our informal New Wine style service, ther were a number of prophetic words and pictures which confirmed the direction we had begun to take at the away day - this is the kind of thing that makes your spine tingle in a good way.
Then today (passion Sunday)I unusually had 3 services to do. There was a time in my younger years that I could laugh at taking 4 or 5 services on one Sunday. Now three is a challege. I need to get fit! Anyway, I preached about the cross and atonement theories, a sermon that arose from several events this week;
1) re-reading the Shack
2) A 6 year old boy asking me "what is Salvation?"
3) Internet blackout for 2 days for the whole village (stolen cables apparently)
At Stebbing, in our informal New Wine style service, ther were a number of prophetic words and pictures which confirmed the direction we had begun to take at the away day - this is the kind of thing that makes your spine tingle in a good way.
Friday, 20 March 2009
It's been a long cold lonely winter
Well, not lonely actually; busy would do. Now here comes the sun for a busy spring.
Good week this week.
Went to a New Wine leaders' network meeting in Colchester which was most encouraging (women priests, no toeing the party line, buns, coffee, small degrees of separation).
Steering on the VW camper playing up on the way home was the only downer.
Had a quiet day yesterday (as in a quiet day retreat type thing rather than a day that was quiet). Due to comms failure with East London Franciscans I ended up just going for a very long walk - all around the 4 churches and then home. This gave me ample time to
1) be away from the phone
2) pray
3) reflect on the last 2 and a half years since we got here
4) Enjoy wildlife e.g. hares boxing, harris hawk (with jesses on so escaped from captivity). Also fab flowers in Little Saling churchyard (photo coming soon)
5) plan our benefice Good Friday walk and worship event which will take the same route I did.
We've got a housefull tonight what with ailing relatives, sleepovers and Pulse team members in the house, so I better get the washing up done
Good week this week.
Went to a New Wine leaders' network meeting in Colchester which was most encouraging (women priests, no toeing the party line, buns, coffee, small degrees of separation).
Steering on the VW camper playing up on the way home was the only downer.
Had a quiet day yesterday (as in a quiet day retreat type thing rather than a day that was quiet). Due to comms failure with East London Franciscans I ended up just going for a very long walk - all around the 4 churches and then home. This gave me ample time to
1) be away from the phone
2) pray
3) reflect on the last 2 and a half years since we got here
4) Enjoy wildlife e.g. hares boxing, harris hawk (with jesses on so escaped from captivity). Also fab flowers in Little Saling churchyard (photo coming soon)
5) plan our benefice Good Friday walk and worship event which will take the same route I did.
We've got a housefull tonight what with ailing relatives, sleepovers and Pulse team members in the house, so I better get the washing up done
Saturday, 28 February 2009
Lord they give me all so much, they pick me up when I'm feeling blue now how 'bout you
Well that was a bit of a roller coaster week. It must be busy if all I have time to do is write comments on other people's blogs.
Tomorrow we have the diocesan Bishop coming for a confirmation, at which originally there were to have been 5 candidates doing different things - renewing vows, being received into the church and actually getting confirmed. After a week when (to re-use a phrase I coined earlier) everything has gone not just pear shaped but avocado pear shaped - heavy stuff with a big lump in - 4 candidates have dropped out; I did wonder about calling it off but the remaining person is actually quite ill and is going into hospital on Sunday afternoon, so the timing seemed right.
Also this week we have had some trees pollarded in the churchyard, bringing forth howls of anguish from people who (a) don't read or understand faculty notices and/or (b) think they know more about trees than our tree surgeon and tree warden combined. So the wardens and I have been fielding this "LOI" (land-owner issue) when really I wanted to get on with other stuff like booking New Wine (LSE) and gearing up for the ECHT Hosanna 09 conference at Chelmsford Cathedral.
Stuff for the Lent course arrived this week also after what seems like about a year in the post and "D'oh", I had mis-ordered so there won't be enough resources to go round the groups, giving me another headache for next week ...
So I was ready to let my hair down (if I had any outside my ears and nostrils that was long enough to let down) by Friday night, which was the school PTA 70's/80's disco. It was just for the parents too which meant that I could actually have a dance. You see, I suffer from (or maybe I should say profit from) a condition called "dads don't dance" which prevents me from being able to strut any kind of stuff let alone the funky variety in the presence of my children (or even other people's children come to that).
However, the hiring of a Travolta Saturday Night Fever suit led to an extremely enjoyable evening, very much in the style of the school disco's [yes there should be an apostrophe, for abbreviation] we all knew and loved, except that there was no-one being sick outside, and we could complement each other on dance ability or style without fearing being accused of chatting each other up. It was a cracking night and will I'm sure feature again in the PTA calendar and this blog (maybe even with photos next time!)
am also currently brewing a post about Jade Goody
Tomorrow we have the diocesan Bishop coming for a confirmation, at which originally there were to have been 5 candidates doing different things - renewing vows, being received into the church and actually getting confirmed. After a week when (to re-use a phrase I coined earlier) everything has gone not just pear shaped but avocado pear shaped - heavy stuff with a big lump in - 4 candidates have dropped out; I did wonder about calling it off but the remaining person is actually quite ill and is going into hospital on Sunday afternoon, so the timing seemed right.
Also this week we have had some trees pollarded in the churchyard, bringing forth howls of anguish from people who (a) don't read or understand faculty notices and/or (b) think they know more about trees than our tree surgeon and tree warden combined. So the wardens and I have been fielding this "LOI" (land-owner issue) when really I wanted to get on with other stuff like booking New Wine (LSE) and gearing up for the ECHT Hosanna 09 conference at Chelmsford Cathedral.
Stuff for the Lent course arrived this week also after what seems like about a year in the post and "D'oh", I had mis-ordered so there won't be enough resources to go round the groups, giving me another headache for next week ...
So I was ready to let my hair down (if I had any outside my ears and nostrils that was long enough to let down) by Friday night, which was the school PTA 70's/80's disco. It was just for the parents too which meant that I could actually have a dance. You see, I suffer from (or maybe I should say profit from) a condition called "dads don't dance" which prevents me from being able to strut any kind of stuff let alone the funky variety in the presence of my children (or even other people's children come to that).
However, the hiring of a Travolta Saturday Night Fever suit led to an extremely enjoyable evening, very much in the style of the school disco's [yes there should be an apostrophe, for abbreviation] we all knew and loved, except that there was no-one being sick outside, and we could complement each other on dance ability or style without fearing being accused of chatting each other up. It was a cracking night and will I'm sure feature again in the PTA calendar and this blog (maybe even with photos next time!)
am also currently brewing a post about Jade Goody
Monday, 9 February 2009
One voice one hope, one real decision
Not a post about synod (yet)
I am yet to cross post between my blogs but this Sunday's sermon was such a monumental effort, (only just managed to get to my feet to announce the next song) and seems to have had such a huge impact on Stebbing's congregation that I though you might like to have a look. do comment here rather than on the tgsermons blog.
I am yet to cross post between my blogs but this Sunday's sermon was such a monumental effort, (only just managed to get to my feet to announce the next song) and seems to have had such a huge impact on Stebbing's congregation that I though you might like to have a look. do comment here rather than on the tgsermons blog.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
Friday, 9 January 2009
Eyeless?
Lots of people, notably John at the Ugley Vicar and Sam at Elizaphanian posting about Israel/Palestine this week. I know no amount of blogging will actually ever solve much but ...
I've been enjoying Phil's reflections on his recent trip to the Holy Land. I was also totally blown away by Brother Andrew last summer at New Wine. He is old and frail but still brave enough to go to Gaza with Bibles and aid, and brave (or crazy) enough to meet Palestinian leaders including those Israel would call terrorists. His most challenging statement was "these are not terrorists, they are just people who need Jesus". Now Israel is never going to see that, but the Church in the West must.
I suspect Sam may have a point in saying the establishment of the State of Israel was probably a mistake - it was certainly done in the wrong way, with Palestinian villages bulldozed etc. Trouble is, we still either feel guilty about the Holocaust, or think it is a good enough reason to let Israel (the secular State, not the ethnic/religious group) get away (literally) with murder.
See, I think we need to draw a line, between the Jewish people, whose identity and faith in the 21st century is shaped at least partly by the Holocaust, and the government of Israel who, riding on the back of the millenia of conflict between Jew and Arab and cashing in their victim chips at the bank of USA, seem determined to behave like a medieval nation when it comes to their neighbours the Palestinians, who, though not without blame, are certainly without power in this whole thing, and thus (for me anyway) attract the bias of God who cares for the poor (Luke 4 14-21).
I was trying to come up with an example to show how ridiculous this behaviour appears today. I tried to think about Scotland. Remember the Highland clearances? What if Scotland decided today that those horrible times should be avenged by invading England, a close neighbour whose inhabitants have peacefully co-existed with the Scots for centuries. There would be worldwide outrage and dismissal of the cause as invalid. What if the UK/Northern Ireland had responded to IRA attacks with an invasion of the Republic? The same thing ... maybe. Perhaps we do things a little more diplomatically these days.
I do not believe it is anti-Semitic to be against the State of Israel, for that a political not a racial or religious entity. Her behaviour outrages a goodly proportion of Jews worldwide anyway. How long are we going to let Israel profit from the Holocaust by throwing their weight around like the school bully? The family of a murder victim is not allowed to exact continuous revenge on the perpetrator and his family over generations - in fact the law prevents them from doing so at all. Indeed, if it were really about an Eye for an Eye, shouldn't Israel be invading Germany?
But the UN are about as effective in stopping the carnage in Gaza as a 5 year old would be in stopping a teenage hoody with a knife. There must be dozens of UN resolutions relating to this conflict that have just been ignored. If the rest of the world (ie not counting the US of Abstainers) is serious abotu bringing about a lasting peace, we must consider a more direct intervention - NATO peacekeepers, such as were deployed in the Balkans, at the very least.
Samson couldn't see what was going on around him, but we are neither blind nor powerless ands we must stop pandering to the Israeli government.
Rant over, off to bury a good man.
I've been enjoying Phil's reflections on his recent trip to the Holy Land. I was also totally blown away by Brother Andrew last summer at New Wine. He is old and frail but still brave enough to go to Gaza with Bibles and aid, and brave (or crazy) enough to meet Palestinian leaders including those Israel would call terrorists. His most challenging statement was "these are not terrorists, they are just people who need Jesus". Now Israel is never going to see that, but the Church in the West must.
I suspect Sam may have a point in saying the establishment of the State of Israel was probably a mistake - it was certainly done in the wrong way, with Palestinian villages bulldozed etc. Trouble is, we still either feel guilty about the Holocaust, or think it is a good enough reason to let Israel (the secular State, not the ethnic/religious group) get away (literally) with murder.
See, I think we need to draw a line, between the Jewish people, whose identity and faith in the 21st century is shaped at least partly by the Holocaust, and the government of Israel who, riding on the back of the millenia of conflict between Jew and Arab and cashing in their victim chips at the bank of USA, seem determined to behave like a medieval nation when it comes to their neighbours the Palestinians, who, though not without blame, are certainly without power in this whole thing, and thus (for me anyway) attract the bias of God who cares for the poor (Luke 4 14-21).
I was trying to come up with an example to show how ridiculous this behaviour appears today. I tried to think about Scotland. Remember the Highland clearances? What if Scotland decided today that those horrible times should be avenged by invading England, a close neighbour whose inhabitants have peacefully co-existed with the Scots for centuries. There would be worldwide outrage and dismissal of the cause as invalid. What if the UK/Northern Ireland had responded to IRA attacks with an invasion of the Republic? The same thing ... maybe. Perhaps we do things a little more diplomatically these days.
I do not believe it is anti-Semitic to be against the State of Israel, for that a political not a racial or religious entity. Her behaviour outrages a goodly proportion of Jews worldwide anyway. How long are we going to let Israel profit from the Holocaust by throwing their weight around like the school bully? The family of a murder victim is not allowed to exact continuous revenge on the perpetrator and his family over generations - in fact the law prevents them from doing so at all. Indeed, if it were really about an Eye for an Eye, shouldn't Israel be invading Germany?
But the UN are about as effective in stopping the carnage in Gaza as a 5 year old would be in stopping a teenage hoody with a knife. There must be dozens of UN resolutions relating to this conflict that have just been ignored. If the rest of the world (ie not counting the US of Abstainers) is serious abotu bringing about a lasting peace, we must consider a more direct intervention - NATO peacekeepers, such as were deployed in the Balkans, at the very least.
Samson couldn't see what was going on around him, but we are neither blind nor powerless ands we must stop pandering to the Israeli government.
Rant over, off to bury a good man.
Monday, 17 November 2008
As saints of old still line the way ...
Well, people are posting away furiously here there and everywhere about Saturday's NEAC5 consultation. Even Pluralist has had a couple of goes. But the Ugley vicar reduces his comments to a preamble to a wedding sermon that I dare not read for my blood pressure's sake.
As for me, well it was my first proper evangelical "assembly" (unless you count being in the student body at Wycliffe Hall), and my first impression was that there were too many grey haired gentlemen and not enough women or people under 45. The chair of the session, Canon Michael Walters, who otherwise did a very good job, betrayed the truth of my impression when, in inviting comments from the floor he could only invite men by name. The old boy network lives on!
The morning was fairly innocuous, and I was lifted by the opportunity to see face to face people I recognise 'cos they have their photo on Fulcrum, but have never met properly. It was also one of those occasions when one scans the room for familiar faces - there were a fair few, but not as many proportionally as I would find at New Wine. I guess that says something about my constituency.
Talks were OK - I like Paul Perkin and he genuinely seemed to be preaching a message of unity, but I wasn't really sure whether in wanting us to redefine inclusiveness he was talking about our attitude to ECUSA or the C of E evangelical movement. I suppose different people starting from different places may have found what they wanted to hear in his carefully (and no doubt prayerfully) chosen words. The Bishop of Birkenhead talked a lot of sense; I wish they'd given him longer as he was the only person who said anything in depth about Lambeth. Bishop Michael is a nice guy - he's the only Bishop whose house I've been to and heard New Wine worship on the stereo. I think he lost his place a bit at the lectern, and didn't really say much I hadn't already heard expressed elsewhere.
As for the afternoon, well Christina Baxter had me in tears in her plea to God (and CEEC) for more women on the platform. Pete Broadbent had some constructive things to say too, but Mike Ovey was talking way too fast for me to keep up, and I'm afraid Chris Sugden's slick powerpoint just put me to sleep.
I remember the NUS in the 80's, and it was like that a bit when it came to the motion - whether or not we would express our support for the Jerusalem Declaration - lots of people asked for the motion to be withdrawn, or for a procedural motion that it be "not put". The main force of the argument was that this was meant to be a consultation but we hadn't been consulted, and it was all a bit too sudden for some. I felt we needed to have spent more time talking about the thing before we voted on it, and as we saw there was not going to be the opportunity to amend the motion, well it had to go. The vote itself was very tense, and hard to judge - although I saw Colin Buchanan tidying up his papers so I knew we'd won the day - as if anyone can judge a vote from the floor, he can.
But it wasn't a pretty end. Richard Turnbull, about whom many column inches have been written over the last few years, refused to withdraw the motion, and seemed oblivious to the fact that he had been defeated as he closed proceedings. I suspect his claim that the CEEC will just vote on it anyway may mean he is in trouble with them too.
He gathered himself enough to have a pop at Graham Kings in his summing up, and much as I am sympathetic to Graham's analytical picture of evangelicalism (h/t Rachel) I now conclude that there are only two kinds of evangelical - those who agree with Richard Turnbull and those who do not!
For the record, I couldn't have voted to express support for the Jerusalem Declaration, so in a slightly cowardly way I guess I'm glad we didn't vote. It's not that I don't want to affirm the orthodox in the States and Canada - I signed the petition that Jim Packer is an authentic Anglican. It's just that I don't agree with paragraph 13 about rejecting the authority of churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith.
There are two reasons for my discomfort with that paragraph. First, who decides who "those churches and leaders" are? What if I end up being one one day? Sounds like something from the Cultural Revolution. We don't actually remove someone's authority just because we reject it - they still have it, and opinion counts for nothing in disabling it.
Second, and in a way related to that, Article 26 of the 39 Articles, from which GAFCON I guess got the force of para 13, speaks of "the discipline of the church" and "by just judgement" in relation to how the heterodox should be dealt with. Neither CEEC nor NEAC nor GAFCON are executive bodies of the Anglican Communion; they do not have the power or authority to hand down discipline of the type article 26 and para 13 imply (to my reading). This properly belongs in the Cof E to the processes of the clergy discipline measure, and I guess the buck stops with Rowan Williams when it comes to the wider communion. If he is reluctant to wade in (which I guess he mostly is), it is for the same reason that The Bishop of London didn't discipline Martin Dudley for blessing a civil partnership in his church - we are all just far too nice to each other! At least Richard Turnbull doesn't suffer from that!
For me then the Jerusalem Declaration (sorry Jody, JD will always be Jack Daniels for me) is a case of nice missiology and morality, shame about the ecclesiology.
I asked two people last week who'd been to NEAC4 whether they wanted my spare ticket; they both said their experience at Blackpol had put them off ever attending again. I can't say I'm thrilled with the idea, but it may be necessary, if the bullying is going to be truly stopped.
To end on a positive note I have as a result of Saturday resolved to get more invovled in the diocesan evangelical association. Dunno where I'll find the time but there you go.
As for me, well it was my first proper evangelical "assembly" (unless you count being in the student body at Wycliffe Hall), and my first impression was that there were too many grey haired gentlemen and not enough women or people under 45. The chair of the session, Canon Michael Walters, who otherwise did a very good job, betrayed the truth of my impression when, in inviting comments from the floor he could only invite men by name. The old boy network lives on!
The morning was fairly innocuous, and I was lifted by the opportunity to see face to face people I recognise 'cos they have their photo on Fulcrum, but have never met properly. It was also one of those occasions when one scans the room for familiar faces - there were a fair few, but not as many proportionally as I would find at New Wine. I guess that says something about my constituency.
Talks were OK - I like Paul Perkin and he genuinely seemed to be preaching a message of unity, but I wasn't really sure whether in wanting us to redefine inclusiveness he was talking about our attitude to ECUSA or the C of E evangelical movement. I suppose different people starting from different places may have found what they wanted to hear in his carefully (and no doubt prayerfully) chosen words. The Bishop of Birkenhead talked a lot of sense; I wish they'd given him longer as he was the only person who said anything in depth about Lambeth. Bishop Michael is a nice guy - he's the only Bishop whose house I've been to and heard New Wine worship on the stereo. I think he lost his place a bit at the lectern, and didn't really say much I hadn't already heard expressed elsewhere.
As for the afternoon, well Christina Baxter had me in tears in her plea to God (and CEEC) for more women on the platform. Pete Broadbent had some constructive things to say too, but Mike Ovey was talking way too fast for me to keep up, and I'm afraid Chris Sugden's slick powerpoint just put me to sleep.
I remember the NUS in the 80's, and it was like that a bit when it came to the motion - whether or not we would express our support for the Jerusalem Declaration - lots of people asked for the motion to be withdrawn, or for a procedural motion that it be "not put". The main force of the argument was that this was meant to be a consultation but we hadn't been consulted, and it was all a bit too sudden for some. I felt we needed to have spent more time talking about the thing before we voted on it, and as we saw there was not going to be the opportunity to amend the motion, well it had to go. The vote itself was very tense, and hard to judge - although I saw Colin Buchanan tidying up his papers so I knew we'd won the day - as if anyone can judge a vote from the floor, he can.
But it wasn't a pretty end. Richard Turnbull, about whom many column inches have been written over the last few years, refused to withdraw the motion, and seemed oblivious to the fact that he had been defeated as he closed proceedings. I suspect his claim that the CEEC will just vote on it anyway may mean he is in trouble with them too.
He gathered himself enough to have a pop at Graham Kings in his summing up, and much as I am sympathetic to Graham's analytical picture of evangelicalism (h/t Rachel) I now conclude that there are only two kinds of evangelical - those who agree with Richard Turnbull and those who do not!
For the record, I couldn't have voted to express support for the Jerusalem Declaration, so in a slightly cowardly way I guess I'm glad we didn't vote. It's not that I don't want to affirm the orthodox in the States and Canada - I signed the petition that Jim Packer is an authentic Anglican. It's just that I don't agree with paragraph 13 about rejecting the authority of churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith.
There are two reasons for my discomfort with that paragraph. First, who decides who "those churches and leaders" are? What if I end up being one one day? Sounds like something from the Cultural Revolution. We don't actually remove someone's authority just because we reject it - they still have it, and opinion counts for nothing in disabling it.
Second, and in a way related to that, Article 26 of the 39 Articles, from which GAFCON I guess got the force of para 13, speaks of "the discipline of the church" and "by just judgement" in relation to how the heterodox should be dealt with. Neither CEEC nor NEAC nor GAFCON are executive bodies of the Anglican Communion; they do not have the power or authority to hand down discipline of the type article 26 and para 13 imply (to my reading). This properly belongs in the Cof E to the processes of the clergy discipline measure, and I guess the buck stops with Rowan Williams when it comes to the wider communion. If he is reluctant to wade in (which I guess he mostly is), it is for the same reason that The Bishop of London didn't discipline Martin Dudley for blessing a civil partnership in his church - we are all just far too nice to each other! At least Richard Turnbull doesn't suffer from that!
For me then the Jerusalem Declaration (sorry Jody, JD will always be Jack Daniels for me) is a case of nice missiology and morality, shame about the ecclesiology.
I asked two people last week who'd been to NEAC4 whether they wanted my spare ticket; they both said their experience at Blackpol had put them off ever attending again. I can't say I'm thrilled with the idea, but it may be necessary, if the bullying is going to be truly stopped.
To end on a positive note I have as a result of Saturday resolved to get more invovled in the diocesan evangelical association. Dunno where I'll find the time but there you go.
Friday, 7 November 2008
Together we are beautiful
Hi Jody,
Lots to think about there. There was a Fulcrum thread a while back on which "feminisation of the church" came up, but I’m still not sure exactly what people mean by it.
I have to say, (though I'm still struggling through "Why men hate going to church" its like wading through molasses – would say treacle but its American!) that I mostly think about the church, rather than clergy, when on the subject of men and women. Since the first women priests in the C of E in 94 we can say obviously that there has been a feminisation of the clergy, if we mean an increase in the number of women, but I agree that this has not yet ironed out the institutional maleness of the Church (which we strangely and rather patronisingly refer to as “her” sometimes – “Mother church” etc.)
I agree too that men outside the church (especially those of my generation and younger) don’t have a problem with women in church or women clergy – that’s not keeping them away; in fact it might even be a reason to go along. So the relationship between men in or nearly in the pew and women (clergy) is not in my experience the problem.
Where it hits the fan for the blokes I worship with and go to the pub with is the old “Jesus is my boyfriend” style worship songs, the worst offender recently being “Here I am, A laid down lover...” and as for “Kiss it better father make the hurting stop”, particularly on a kids praise album, that’s just getting way out of your average bloke’s comfort zone when it comes to expressions of public emotion.
When was the last time you saw a man who did not have his own school age children in church and who was not the vicar, joining in enthusiastically with an action song? So they might want to be there with the women and kids, but some of the stuff they are expected to sing and say and do is very cringe making. This in itself though may not be enough justification for the numerous men’s ministries that we see around.
I think “segregated” is a bit of a strong word; after all, men can now join the Mothers’ Union (and girls can join the cubs). There are some churches where stuff like Bible study and prayer is all done in single sex groups; that’s just getting silly and over-protective, especially with students! I can see that I’m arguing myself into a bit of a corner; we try to be an all-age church here, so maybe we should also be trying harder to include men and women in everything instead of just doing things like prayer breakfasts and outreach events separately. If the church developed more of a culture of doing things for all ages and both genders all the time, one might argue that inclusion is easier to achieve, in a diverse congregation.
On the other hand, if I run a curry night for couples I know from school, they all have to get sitters; if I invite the blokes out, then my wife invites the women a different night, that’s a little easier. That’s a practical thing rather than a theological one, I will admit. Perhaps another issue is that men’s outreach groups tend to have as their aim the conversion of the men into church going Christians, instead of just letting them be themselves and find a place to belong in a group – even if that group never actually gets into the church and only ever meets in the pub. If we held forums for discussion of issues that engage men, like war or the economy or Dawkins etc, leaving space for a range of opinion and not aiming for an altar call, the men might be keener to stick around. They might even think the church is actually worth being part of, and so would be helped on the way of self-discovery.
Reality is after all relational - as Christians we understand the world, ourselves and each other in the light of Christ; humanuity was created for relationship with God and with each other. Thjat's who we are, so yes, isolation can restrict our identity.
This is all great in theory but I still feel there is value in groupings or even organisations that are single sex – religious communities are at their best in that pattern, and very few of them never actually allow members of the opposite sex to visit, worship eat and live with them.
Perhaps is we can reflect on Obama’s win; it was 45 years from MLK’s speech to a black president. Change we need, yes, but it takes time (“Like a mighty tortoise move the church of God” etc). I just watched Ratatouille with my daughter. There’s a great line when the rat hero is battling with his father who wants him to be a rat, and his own desires to be a chef; he says “Change IS nature”
Throughout the years since ‘63 there have been special campaigning or interest groups for black people, which will I’m sure, continue. When I was a student the Union had a black rights officer, but no one (to the left of Genghis Khan) asked for a white rights officer.
In the Evangelical world you will be aware that there is a support group for women evangelical clergy (and ordinands) AWESOME. There are no cries for a similar body for the men (unless that’s what Reform is and I’ve been missing the point all these years (joking!)).
What I’m saying is, in purely human terms, to precipitate change I think you need special interest/campaign/support groups to empower/encourage/inform the people who seek the change. Of course God is involved in it too; he does the changing, essentially.
As we’ve seen, the church has a problem in keeping men interested in Christianity, so on this model I feel we are justified in having special interest groups for men, or special outreach strategies for men. Not because they are oppressed, far from it, but because they are a minority in the pews. As you so rightly say, the church is meant to reflect the whole image of God, and “male and female he created them”, not just men or just women, but both together as equals.
Just as black rights campaigners have been (for the most part in the mainstream) careful not to say life is just about black people (isn’t that why Obama left his old church) and just as most feminists (again, in the “mainstream”) don’t claim that life is just about women, Christian ministry to and outreach among men must not be exclusive or misogynistic, for the reasons you have outlined - because dodgy theology, even underlying sound ideas, will always be dodgy theology, which on a practical level will never keep the blokes on board.
I think this is why the macho male bonding type rallies don’t work, because the church as a whole isn’t like that, and shouldn’t be, so those drawn in through that kind of approach will end up disappointed and leave – or go back to the terraces.
I first went to church because of a woman; in that church there were women up the front leading and preaching; it was quite a few years before I actually realised (coming as I did from a totally secular childhood) that there were no women priests. When I read the Bible I saw it was full of dynamic and holy women – who were visited by Angels and told the will of God, or who first witnessed the resurrection and first told others about it.
Only now some 22 years later am I beginning to see that the elephant in the room is sometimes a man
Who isn’t there.
Lots to think about there. There was a Fulcrum thread a while back on which "feminisation of the church" came up, but I’m still not sure exactly what people mean by it.
I have to say, (though I'm still struggling through "Why men hate going to church" its like wading through molasses – would say treacle but its American!) that I mostly think about the church, rather than clergy, when on the subject of men and women. Since the first women priests in the C of E in 94 we can say obviously that there has been a feminisation of the clergy, if we mean an increase in the number of women, but I agree that this has not yet ironed out the institutional maleness of the Church (which we strangely and rather patronisingly refer to as “her” sometimes – “Mother church” etc.)
I agree too that men outside the church (especially those of my generation and younger) don’t have a problem with women in church or women clergy – that’s not keeping them away; in fact it might even be a reason to go along. So the relationship between men in or nearly in the pew and women (clergy) is not in my experience the problem.
Where it hits the fan for the blokes I worship with and go to the pub with is the old “Jesus is my boyfriend” style worship songs, the worst offender recently being “Here I am, A laid down lover...” and as for “Kiss it better father make the hurting stop”, particularly on a kids praise album, that’s just getting way out of your average bloke’s comfort zone when it comes to expressions of public emotion.
When was the last time you saw a man who did not have his own school age children in church and who was not the vicar, joining in enthusiastically with an action song? So they might want to be there with the women and kids, but some of the stuff they are expected to sing and say and do is very cringe making. This in itself though may not be enough justification for the numerous men’s ministries that we see around.
I think “segregated” is a bit of a strong word; after all, men can now join the Mothers’ Union (and girls can join the cubs). There are some churches where stuff like Bible study and prayer is all done in single sex groups; that’s just getting silly and over-protective, especially with students! I can see that I’m arguing myself into a bit of a corner; we try to be an all-age church here, so maybe we should also be trying harder to include men and women in everything instead of just doing things like prayer breakfasts and outreach events separately. If the church developed more of a culture of doing things for all ages and both genders all the time, one might argue that inclusion is easier to achieve, in a diverse congregation.
On the other hand, if I run a curry night for couples I know from school, they all have to get sitters; if I invite the blokes out, then my wife invites the women a different night, that’s a little easier. That’s a practical thing rather than a theological one, I will admit. Perhaps another issue is that men’s outreach groups tend to have as their aim the conversion of the men into church going Christians, instead of just letting them be themselves and find a place to belong in a group – even if that group never actually gets into the church and only ever meets in the pub. If we held forums for discussion of issues that engage men, like war or the economy or Dawkins etc, leaving space for a range of opinion and not aiming for an altar call, the men might be keener to stick around. They might even think the church is actually worth being part of, and so would be helped on the way of self-discovery.
Reality is after all relational - as Christians we understand the world, ourselves and each other in the light of Christ; humanuity was created for relationship with God and with each other. Thjat's who we are, so yes, isolation can restrict our identity.
This is all great in theory but I still feel there is value in groupings or even organisations that are single sex – religious communities are at their best in that pattern, and very few of them never actually allow members of the opposite sex to visit, worship eat and live with them.
Perhaps is we can reflect on Obama’s win; it was 45 years from MLK’s speech to a black president. Change we need, yes, but it takes time (“Like a mighty tortoise move the church of God” etc). I just watched Ratatouille with my daughter. There’s a great line when the rat hero is battling with his father who wants him to be a rat, and his own desires to be a chef; he says “Change IS nature”
Throughout the years since ‘63 there have been special campaigning or interest groups for black people, which will I’m sure, continue. When I was a student the Union had a black rights officer, but no one (to the left of Genghis Khan) asked for a white rights officer.
In the Evangelical world you will be aware that there is a support group for women evangelical clergy (and ordinands) AWESOME. There are no cries for a similar body for the men (unless that’s what Reform is and I’ve been missing the point all these years (joking!)).
What I’m saying is, in purely human terms, to precipitate change I think you need special interest/campaign/support groups to empower/encourage/inform the people who seek the change. Of course God is involved in it too; he does the changing, essentially.
As we’ve seen, the church has a problem in keeping men interested in Christianity, so on this model I feel we are justified in having special interest groups for men, or special outreach strategies for men. Not because they are oppressed, far from it, but because they are a minority in the pews. As you so rightly say, the church is meant to reflect the whole image of God, and “male and female he created them”, not just men or just women, but both together as equals.
Just as black rights campaigners have been (for the most part in the mainstream) careful not to say life is just about black people (isn’t that why Obama left his old church) and just as most feminists (again, in the “mainstream”) don’t claim that life is just about women, Christian ministry to and outreach among men must not be exclusive or misogynistic, for the reasons you have outlined - because dodgy theology, even underlying sound ideas, will always be dodgy theology, which on a practical level will never keep the blokes on board.
I think this is why the macho male bonding type rallies don’t work, because the church as a whole isn’t like that, and shouldn’t be, so those drawn in through that kind of approach will end up disappointed and leave – or go back to the terraces.
I first went to church because of a woman; in that church there were women up the front leading and preaching; it was quite a few years before I actually realised (coming as I did from a totally secular childhood) that there were no women priests. When I read the Bible I saw it was full of dynamic and holy women – who were visited by Angels and told the will of God, or who first witnessed the resurrection and first told others about it.
Only now some 22 years later am I beginning to see that the elephant in the room is sometimes a man
Who isn’t there.
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing .....
Hi again Jody,
Well (cards on the table) I have now read the whole article properly several times and realised the identity of the writer and his context. I see this as a bloke writing for men, from the context of a church with a significant ministry to and outreach among men. It's a church not far from here, and I get on well with Steve's boss, and have even had one of his colleagues to preach here. That church also has on its staff one of the very few women priests who regularly speak at NW. So I guess my words are a bit guarded, but don't let that make you think I have moved on from the previous post - which I guess was really about your older post about women in leadership.
Now I am the kind of guy who reads his wife's Cosmo Eve or She, mostly because I can't stomach GQ and feel too old for Q and the NME, not fit enough for men's health and not nerdy enough for PC gamer (or whatever).
So the only magazine I read that is specifically for men is the one published by Christian Vision for Men, whom our Men's Group (known as BoB) subscribe to. It contains the kind of thing that Steve wrote, which, if you can look at it for the perspective of a ministry to men, in a culture where, as the book says (and I haven't finished reading it yet) "Men Hate Going to Church", is (for the most part) helpful - to men.
But my opening analogy doesn't work the other way round. My wife doesn't read men's magazines, and if she did she would probably find a lot of the content difficult to accept if not downright alien to her point of view. I do not think however, that it is wrong for there to be "niche" magazines in this sense, whether they are Christian (and therefore frankly likely to be cheesy) or secular (and therefore likely to be principally concerned with sex and physical appearance - but that doesn't always put me off reading them!)
And so I recognise Steve's article in NW mag as being appropriate for the context of a Christian magazine for men. If there was editorial error therefore on the part of NW, it was to assume that the readership of the NW mag and CVM mag are the same, or at least have a significant overlap. This I doubt. My reasoning is that there is always a page or article for women in the NW mag, but rarely a specific article for blokes - most of the readers, I deduce therefore, are women.
Most of the people in all of the churches I have ever been involved in (15 at the last count over the last 22 years) have been women. There is a problem with the church, that not enough men are part of it. I do not repeat do not think that the ordination of women has caused this. Its causes are much more long term and too complex to cover in just one post. I even understand that the bloke who wrote "Why men hate going to church" has now written another book in which the women of the church are challenged to bring the blokes in. This seems a refreshing approach, as even the Ugley Vicar has had enough of macho men's rallies.
The sentiment behind Steve's article, therefore, I pretty much agree with. We have a small men's group here which is aimed at the blokes on the fringe of church, and we do have a problem with a lack of blokes at the heart of the fellowship.
So, to the article itself. There was only one bit I thought was completely unacceptable - the paragraph you highlighted about people seeing the divine in men, as Pilate saw the divine in Jesus. This is indeed to elevate the status of the male above the female within redeemed humanity and therefore I don't think it is theologically acceptable - Christians are all called to reflect the glory of God in our lives, not just the blokes, even if you are writing for blokes (which I think Steve is).
Steve does say "for better or for worse, men still hold privileged positions of decision making authority ..." I read that as meaning he does not think that the status quo is what God wants, he is just saying that's how it is. So I guess we differ in that you have read him as meaning it is an acceptable status quo.
Some of the other quotations - such as the one from Marcus Tullius Cicero, or Proverbs 27 might be better applied to both men and women, in a TNIV or NRSV style, taking the old (say 1950's) "men" to mean both men and women. Today that usage is not usually editorially acceptable, but Steve is (appears to be) writing for men so I guess chose not to inclusivise his quotations.
Jane Morris's article on p48 of the same mag is about Esther - a woman leader writing about a woman hero. I've never edited a magazine like this but I wonder whether they figured Jane's article might provide a balance to Steve's.
So what do we do next? I am not one for stirring up trouble, but I might be prepared to email John Coles and Steve Clarke to ask for clarification. Until we have that, most of this discussion is just speculation.
You may not have liked a lot of this, but I do want to re-iterate that I support your call for a higher profile for Women in holy orders in NW leadership. I agree that a small part of Steve's article is out of order, but I urge you to consider his context when finalising your opinion of what he wrote. After all, even in an all age church like ours, if I put on an event or write a sermon that is aimed at old people or teenagers, those church members who are not part of the target audience do not feel insulted because they know from experience that there is something for them also on the agenda.
In 1981 as I walked across the quad at Harvard (age 15 on holiday), I heard two passing students talking. One said to the other, "If only Reagan or the Ayatollah had been a woman".
Well (cards on the table) I have now read the whole article properly several times and realised the identity of the writer and his context. I see this as a bloke writing for men, from the context of a church with a significant ministry to and outreach among men. It's a church not far from here, and I get on well with Steve's boss, and have even had one of his colleagues to preach here. That church also has on its staff one of the very few women priests who regularly speak at NW. So I guess my words are a bit guarded, but don't let that make you think I have moved on from the previous post - which I guess was really about your older post about women in leadership.
Now I am the kind of guy who reads his wife's Cosmo Eve or She, mostly because I can't stomach GQ and feel too old for Q and the NME, not fit enough for men's health and not nerdy enough for PC gamer (or whatever).
So the only magazine I read that is specifically for men is the one published by Christian Vision for Men, whom our Men's Group (known as BoB) subscribe to. It contains the kind of thing that Steve wrote, which, if you can look at it for the perspective of a ministry to men, in a culture where, as the book says (and I haven't finished reading it yet) "Men Hate Going to Church", is (for the most part) helpful - to men.
But my opening analogy doesn't work the other way round. My wife doesn't read men's magazines, and if she did she would probably find a lot of the content difficult to accept if not downright alien to her point of view. I do not think however, that it is wrong for there to be "niche" magazines in this sense, whether they are Christian (and therefore frankly likely to be cheesy) or secular (and therefore likely to be principally concerned with sex and physical appearance - but that doesn't always put me off reading them!)
And so I recognise Steve's article in NW mag as being appropriate for the context of a Christian magazine for men. If there was editorial error therefore on the part of NW, it was to assume that the readership of the NW mag and CVM mag are the same, or at least have a significant overlap. This I doubt. My reasoning is that there is always a page or article for women in the NW mag, but rarely a specific article for blokes - most of the readers, I deduce therefore, are women.
Most of the people in all of the churches I have ever been involved in (15 at the last count over the last 22 years) have been women. There is a problem with the church, that not enough men are part of it. I do not repeat do not think that the ordination of women has caused this. Its causes are much more long term and too complex to cover in just one post. I even understand that the bloke who wrote "Why men hate going to church" has now written another book in which the women of the church are challenged to bring the blokes in. This seems a refreshing approach, as even the Ugley Vicar has had enough of macho men's rallies.
The sentiment behind Steve's article, therefore, I pretty much agree with. We have a small men's group here which is aimed at the blokes on the fringe of church, and we do have a problem with a lack of blokes at the heart of the fellowship.
So, to the article itself. There was only one bit I thought was completely unacceptable - the paragraph you highlighted about people seeing the divine in men, as Pilate saw the divine in Jesus. This is indeed to elevate the status of the male above the female within redeemed humanity and therefore I don't think it is theologically acceptable - Christians are all called to reflect the glory of God in our lives, not just the blokes, even if you are writing for blokes (which I think Steve is).
Steve does say "for better or for worse, men still hold privileged positions of decision making authority ..." I read that as meaning he does not think that the status quo is what God wants, he is just saying that's how it is. So I guess we differ in that you have read him as meaning it is an acceptable status quo.
Some of the other quotations - such as the one from Marcus Tullius Cicero, or Proverbs 27 might be better applied to both men and women, in a TNIV or NRSV style, taking the old (say 1950's) "men" to mean both men and women. Today that usage is not usually editorially acceptable, but Steve is (appears to be) writing for men so I guess chose not to inclusivise his quotations.
Jane Morris's article on p48 of the same mag is about Esther - a woman leader writing about a woman hero. I've never edited a magazine like this but I wonder whether they figured Jane's article might provide a balance to Steve's.
So what do we do next? I am not one for stirring up trouble, but I might be prepared to email John Coles and Steve Clarke to ask for clarification. Until we have that, most of this discussion is just speculation.
You may not have liked a lot of this, but I do want to re-iterate that I support your call for a higher profile for Women in holy orders in NW leadership. I agree that a small part of Steve's article is out of order, but I urge you to consider his context when finalising your opinion of what he wrote. After all, even in an all age church like ours, if I put on an event or write a sermon that is aimed at old people or teenagers, those church members who are not part of the target audience do not feel insulted because they know from experience that there is something for them also on the agenda.
In 1981 as I walked across the quad at Harvard (age 15 on holiday), I heard two passing students talking. One said to the other, "If only Reagan or the Ayatollah had been a woman".
Monday, 3 November 2008
Here is healing and forgiveness ...?
This is a thing I've been thinking over for a while, following some stuff on The Radical Evangelical
Hi Jody,
I’ve been thinking about your post for quite a while, and thinking about the gender issue and new wine for ages too. I think we talked about it just after the conferences last summer. For a while my wife and I turned a blind eye, but since personal conversations with the Coles, and particularly since their seminar in 07 we feel more comfortable and accepted; that’s why rather than just sighing, I did a Homer Simpson forehead slapping D’oh! when I read your post.
I guessed the origin of your quotation straight away, even though I hadn’t read the mag itself. Possibly though this was because I know it’s one of your bugbears.
Dennis is right; we do just have to keep on going. I feel that the progress that has been made in recent years is partly down to the likes of yourself not being backward in coming forward at New Wine, but also partly because the Charismatic movement as a whole (cross-denominationally) tends not to think in terms of ordained leaders, but of leaders, per se, ordained or not. At the moment it happens that all the men on the leadership of New Wine are ordained, but not all of the women are. In one sense this could be seen as a good thing, that leadership roles are given to lay people. Too much power in the hands of male priests can also be counterbalanced by acknowledging the priesthood of all believers, not just by bringing in more women priests. That doesn’t mean I don’t think there should be more ordained women on the NW leadership or even the speakers list.
In a previous post on this subject you said, “being married to the bloke doesn’t count”. I think that’s a good point, if you are looking for ordained women in leadership. I’m not sure whether Jane Morriss, vicar of St Gabriel’s and on the leadership of the LSE week is married or not, but if she is we don’t see her husband in the mag or on the stage.
Looking at the history, I wasn’t around at the time but I do think that when the Pytches founded NW they did so as a couple, not as the vicar/bishop and his wife, almost in a parenting role – that is particularly true of their relationship with Soul Survivor. So it will have seemed natural to continue that couple thing, and at the time, say early to mid 90’s, the charismatic evangelical women priests we see today were all either curates or still in training, and the culture of the social grouping that makes up yer basic new wine church was both theologically and culturally conservative. I hope and pray their time will come soon.
That is to say, while they may not have theological objections to women in leadership, and while key charismatic texts like Joel 2 may have taken away the glass ceiling in theory (especially after Don Williams’ magisterial “Church, Wake Up!” call in the early noughties), in practice, your suburban upper middle class church, vicar and congregation are still going to be working on the social/cultural principle that it’s dad who gets up to get the train to London and mum who stays at home or works part time. In a sense this is divorced from the theology of charismata that affirms all believers as ministers in the Spirit. In low churches let’s not forget that ordination is not the be-all and end-all.
Anyway, NW is not a church it is a movement/network. It overlaps denominations, and even traditions within Anglicanism – let’s not forget that when he was in Wales, ++RW received a lot of prayerful support from NW types. Other than the fact that there is a communion at the conference, I wonder whether there need to be any priests on the leadership team, let alone more women priests. At least the situation is not as bad as the fire brigade where at one stage in the recent past following the introduction of equality policies of employment, it was hard to get a job as a fire fighter unless you were a black disabled woman.
To me New Wine is a family, and families aren’t led by priests, but by parents. I just don’t know if Marks Melluish and Bailey et al are in that place, or whether they do see themselves as the main “priestly” leaders with their wives as “helpers” (yuk), and I do know you need not fear the presence of Paul Perkin on the LSE leadership.
I don't know whether you're finding any of this helpful, and let me reassure you that I fervently hope that there will be more ordained women involved in leading NW soon.
Keep on going, and I pray things sort themselves out for you when it comes to your training.
cheers
Tim
Hi Jody,
I’ve been thinking about your post for quite a while, and thinking about the gender issue and new wine for ages too. I think we talked about it just after the conferences last summer. For a while my wife and I turned a blind eye, but since personal conversations with the Coles, and particularly since their seminar in 07 we feel more comfortable and accepted; that’s why rather than just sighing, I did a Homer Simpson forehead slapping D’oh! when I read your post.
I guessed the origin of your quotation straight away, even though I hadn’t read the mag itself. Possibly though this was because I know it’s one of your bugbears.
Dennis is right; we do just have to keep on going. I feel that the progress that has been made in recent years is partly down to the likes of yourself not being backward in coming forward at New Wine, but also partly because the Charismatic movement as a whole (cross-denominationally) tends not to think in terms of ordained leaders, but of leaders, per se, ordained or not. At the moment it happens that all the men on the leadership of New Wine are ordained, but not all of the women are. In one sense this could be seen as a good thing, that leadership roles are given to lay people. Too much power in the hands of male priests can also be counterbalanced by acknowledging the priesthood of all believers, not just by bringing in more women priests. That doesn’t mean I don’t think there should be more ordained women on the NW leadership or even the speakers list.
In a previous post on this subject you said, “being married to the bloke doesn’t count”. I think that’s a good point, if you are looking for ordained women in leadership. I’m not sure whether Jane Morriss, vicar of St Gabriel’s and on the leadership of the LSE week is married or not, but if she is we don’t see her husband in the mag or on the stage.
Looking at the history, I wasn’t around at the time but I do think that when the Pytches founded NW they did so as a couple, not as the vicar/bishop and his wife, almost in a parenting role – that is particularly true of their relationship with Soul Survivor. So it will have seemed natural to continue that couple thing, and at the time, say early to mid 90’s, the charismatic evangelical women priests we see today were all either curates or still in training, and the culture of the social grouping that makes up yer basic new wine church was both theologically and culturally conservative. I hope and pray their time will come soon.
That is to say, while they may not have theological objections to women in leadership, and while key charismatic texts like Joel 2 may have taken away the glass ceiling in theory (especially after Don Williams’ magisterial “Church, Wake Up!” call in the early noughties), in practice, your suburban upper middle class church, vicar and congregation are still going to be working on the social/cultural principle that it’s dad who gets up to get the train to London and mum who stays at home or works part time. In a sense this is divorced from the theology of charismata that affirms all believers as ministers in the Spirit. In low churches let’s not forget that ordination is not the be-all and end-all.
Anyway, NW is not a church it is a movement/network. It overlaps denominations, and even traditions within Anglicanism – let’s not forget that when he was in Wales, ++RW received a lot of prayerful support from NW types. Other than the fact that there is a communion at the conference, I wonder whether there need to be any priests on the leadership team, let alone more women priests. At least the situation is not as bad as the fire brigade where at one stage in the recent past following the introduction of equality policies of employment, it was hard to get a job as a fire fighter unless you were a black disabled woman.
To me New Wine is a family, and families aren’t led by priests, but by parents. I just don’t know if Marks Melluish and Bailey et al are in that place, or whether they do see themselves as the main “priestly” leaders with their wives as “helpers” (yuk), and I do know you need not fear the presence of Paul Perkin on the LSE leadership.
I don't know whether you're finding any of this helpful, and let me reassure you that I fervently hope that there will be more ordained women involved in leading NW soon.
Keep on going, and I pray things sort themselves out for you when it comes to your training.
cheers
Tim
Thursday, 4 September 2008
(Not) the diary of Horace Wimp
That was one of my favourite songs as a kid. Have you noticed by the way that the titles of these posts are mostly song lyrics? That one is a title (adapted) so doesn’t really fit but I couldn’t think of a lyric that fitted.
This is another Leadership Programme journal entry. You may recall that I am supposed to keep a journal reflecting on ministry and my own spirituality and personal life. If I was just doing it for myself I think I wouldn’t be so candid, as I would know when I was kidding myself. Blogging it forces me to be honest, but also makes me discreet! I am writing it on the course but it will only be posted when I get home so is still a bit retrospective.
This time I am only really half here (at Ditchingham, near Bungay), because it is the first week of September and about a million things are either about to happen or are happening now at home. These include back to school for the kids (an event I deemed more important than this morning’s first session and last nights evening event, but then my personal project since May has involved trying to get more time with the family!) and also three services to do on Sunday including a double baptism, and then the Alpha supper on Monday (lets not even go there when it comes to how many people are turning up for that!)
Despite having done a return trip home last night and this morning, then, I have just about managed to convince myself that I am here and I am learning things about myself.
So far these have been
That relationships are the key to my motivation – I do things in personal and professional life that are grounded in relationship – with God (obviously) but also with others. I wish I could post the whole of my Insights /discovery profile, but you’d get very bored as it is all about me. I have not really had much time for indicators of this sort – MBTI, Belbin etc, but this one really nails it, and all the more amazingly because I filled it out very fast with very little reflection.
That I thrive on working in teams. I pretty much knew this and it is good to know I am working to a strength. The issue to address is how to improve my attitude/motivation when by necessity I am working or making decisions alone – I hate that – even things like what to buy at the supermarket.
That I resist the idea of being alone in a spiritual context. I do pray on my own and I enjoy and grow in that, but I would much rather pray and worship with others – even if only one other person such as my wife. Insights suggests I might benefit from a week's silent retreat but where I am and who I am now would utterly hate that except for the sleep and the food! I guess this kind of thing shows up in that I get as much if not more out of spending time with my peers on things like CLP or at New Wine, than I do from the actual teaching.
So far, that has been OK, although I’ve only been to 1 ½ sessions. Last time, in May there was so much to take in I was a bit swamped and didn’t really let much of it sink in. Going over it again here now is good though. I am also very relieved that I am by no means the only person who didn’t do all the homework!
This is another Leadership Programme journal entry. You may recall that I am supposed to keep a journal reflecting on ministry and my own spirituality and personal life. If I was just doing it for myself I think I wouldn’t be so candid, as I would know when I was kidding myself. Blogging it forces me to be honest, but also makes me discreet! I am writing it on the course but it will only be posted when I get home so is still a bit retrospective.
This time I am only really half here (at Ditchingham, near Bungay), because it is the first week of September and about a million things are either about to happen or are happening now at home. These include back to school for the kids (an event I deemed more important than this morning’s first session and last nights evening event, but then my personal project since May has involved trying to get more time with the family!) and also three services to do on Sunday including a double baptism, and then the Alpha supper on Monday (lets not even go there when it comes to how many people are turning up for that!)
Despite having done a return trip home last night and this morning, then, I have just about managed to convince myself that I am here and I am learning things about myself.
So far these have been
That relationships are the key to my motivation – I do things in personal and professional life that are grounded in relationship – with God (obviously) but also with others. I wish I could post the whole of my Insights /discovery profile, but you’d get very bored as it is all about me. I have not really had much time for indicators of this sort – MBTI, Belbin etc, but this one really nails it, and all the more amazingly because I filled it out very fast with very little reflection.
That I thrive on working in teams. I pretty much knew this and it is good to know I am working to a strength. The issue to address is how to improve my attitude/motivation when by necessity I am working or making decisions alone – I hate that – even things like what to buy at the supermarket.
That I resist the idea of being alone in a spiritual context. I do pray on my own and I enjoy and grow in that, but I would much rather pray and worship with others – even if only one other person such as my wife. Insights suggests I might benefit from a week's silent retreat but where I am and who I am now would utterly hate that except for the sleep and the food! I guess this kind of thing shows up in that I get as much if not more out of spending time with my peers on things like CLP or at New Wine, than I do from the actual teaching.
So far, that has been OK, although I’ve only been to 1 ½ sessions. Last time, in May there was so much to take in I was a bit swamped and didn’t really let much of it sink in. Going over it again here now is good though. I am also very relieved that I am by no means the only person who didn’t do all the homework!
Monday, 4 August 2008
Back home
We're back, after an exhausting but also uplifting and refreshing week at New Wine. Great worship, enjoyable and informative seminars and profound teaching and prayer ministry. It is great to be in a church where the stuff we bring home from New Wine is welcomed!
It was also excellent to do a bit of networking with old friends and new, though the highlight has to be being recognised by the worship leader, Vicky Beeching, who hadn't seen us for about a decade.
Back to the grind now, combining school holidays with parish work is always a joy and a challenge.
Lambeth seems to have gone pretty well in the end - prayer probably has more to do with it than politics, but that's not what the papers will say
It was also excellent to do a bit of networking with old friends and new, though the highlight has to be being recognised by the worship leader, Vicky Beeching, who hadn't seen us for about a decade.
Back to the grind now, combining school holidays with parish work is always a joy and a challenge.
Lambeth seems to have gone pretty well in the end - prayer probably has more to do with it than politics, but that's not what the papers will say
Monday, 21 July 2008
Phew!
For the last three weeks its been non stop in this house. Now it is slowing down a little for the summer, which is good as we have all been at breaking point because the parish eventually just invades everything else, which makes us all a bit crabby with each other.
I am so looking forward to going to New Wine this week (although don't even think about breaking into my house if you are reading this with that intent as you will not want to mess with what's here while we are gone!)
I am getting the camper ready and planning our route, starting to think about who I might run into on the site (apart from God obviously!)
Still time to reflect a little about Lambeth etc. Seems the parable of the weeds was a pretty good choice of gospel reading for last Sunday - wonder if they fixed that on purpose or whether God really does work by his Spirit through the lectionary - I think the latter!
Probably won't be able to post from Shepton Mallett so see you next week.
I am so looking forward to going to New Wine this week (although don't even think about breaking into my house if you are reading this with that intent as you will not want to mess with what's here while we are gone!)
I am getting the camper ready and planning our route, starting to think about who I might run into on the site (apart from God obviously!)
Still time to reflect a little about Lambeth etc. Seems the parable of the weeds was a pretty good choice of gospel reading for last Sunday - wonder if they fixed that on purpose or whether God really does work by his Spirit through the lectionary - I think the latter!
Probably won't be able to post from Shepton Mallett so see you next week.
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